Aysedasi's Le Mans

Le Mans 2009 - The Tourists' Story - Page 7

Moving On.....

I was thinking in terms of going down to Tertre Rouge and so began the long walk around behind the paddock, and back up through the Village towards the Dunlop curve. It was as I walked up to the Dunlop bridge that I remembered the new ACO members area just down from there on the inside of the track. I still had plenty of time before I had to meet the others back in the garage rouge, so I went in and signed on and headed on outside again to carry on watching the race. The ACO had taken over quite an expanse of spectator area and it was all very civilised with a bar, seating and so on.

The view on the inside of the run underneath the Dunlop bridge was excellent and I managed to get some good photos here despite the ever present debris fencing. In fact, after a while I realised the camera wasn't playing up any more either, so things were definitely looking up!

I carried on snapping away here until about 6.20. I would really have liked to stay here longer (or to have moved down to Tertre Rouge) but I was due to meet the other Tourists back at the cars in the garage rouge at 6.45 and it was still a good 10-15 minutes walk away, so I stashed my camera again and headed off. Typically, as the one least concerned about leaving the circuit, I usually find that I'm the first to arrive at any rendezvous for the purpose and this time was no different. The others eventually arrived and we piled into the cars for the journey back to Le Grand Lucé for dinner and, sadly for me, for what was likely to be a 4-5 hour spell away from the race. Still, traditions are traditions!

We had to make quite a detour to get out of the garage rouge this time and we finally arrived back at the hotel an hour or so later. Over the last few years I've been delighted that the food at Le Cheval Blanc, whilst not necessarily of the highest standard, has improved significantly and I assumed that just because the place was under new ownership, there would be no difference - after all, it was the same chef in charge - but I was seriously wrong. The meal was sadly very poor - microwaved seafood in a bag to start with followed by more microwaved fish, supposedly St. Pierre (John Dory). As Ben Elton might have said, a plate of tasteless 'hot' followed by another plate of tasteless 'hot' - and bearing in mind that the John Dory came from the a la carte menu, I was shocked at how poor it was. The only saving grace was that I managed to snag a crême brulée for dessert, but even then there weren't enough of these to cater for the 4 of us who wanted it. And we were virtually the only customers in the restaurant on a Saturday evening, when the chef knew we were due there for dinner well in advance. I can honestly say I wished I'd stayed at the circuit and had a merguez and frites. In all my years eating in France, that was probably the worst meal I've ever had. Come back Madame, all is forgiven.....

To miss so much of the race in order for such an unappetising meal was galling and when Ian mentioned heading back to the circuit, I couldn't wait - I was raring to go. It was getting on for 11.30 I suppose by the time I'd collected all my gear for the night and we left, Ian, myself, plus Jeremy and new recruit Phil, keen to see some night racing. So at midnight, over five hours after we left the circuit the previous evening, we finally arrived back again. On this occasion my thoughts went back to my early years at Le Mans in the late 80s, when we ate at the Restaurant des 24 Heures on the Mulsanne, never leaving the circuit at all during the 24 hours. Things change of course, as do people, but my desire to see as much of the race as possible still remains - possibly stronger now than ever before. Unfortunately, agendas vary, and not everyone shares the same Le Mans raison d'etre, which does occasionally lead to some tensions - but more of that later.